Who lived in Palestine at the time of Jesus?

Answer 1

Palestine was inhabited partly by Aramaic-speaking Jews, partly by Samarians (or Samaritans) and partly by Greek-speaking pagans, whom the Jews called gentiles ('foreigners') or Greeks. The fact that the pagans spoke Greek does not necessarily imply that they were of Greek origin, although some may have been, but that Greek became the common language of the Greek Empire after the Alexandrian conquests, apart from the Jews who persisted in speaking Aramaic.

The Palestine area of the first century CE can be divided into four regions, under the domination of the Roman Empire: Judea in the south, Samaria in the centre, Galilee in the north-west and the Decapolis in the northern inland, crossing into what is now Jordan.

The people of Jerusalem and inland Judea were mainly Jews, although a first-century Asclepium has been discovered just outside the walls of Jerusalem - this is the five-sided pool mentioned in John's Gospel. The coastal cities of Judea, especially Caesaria, were pagan, but many coastal villages were probably Jewish. Judea included the territory of Idumea, to the south of Jerusalem. The Idumeans were Jews, but descended from pagans who had been forcibly converted to Judaism during the Maccabean period. Since they were not regarded as "real Jews" they were looked down on by the Jews of Jerusalem. the first-century BCE king, Herod the Great, had been an Idumean and therefore at least nominally a Jew. The Sinai desert, farther south, had long been the home of Nabataean Arabs.

Samaria included the land that was once the Kingdom of Israel. The Samarians were a people who shared a mutual hatred with the Jews. They followed an archaic form of Judaism. The mutual dislike is demonstrated by the Christian parable of the Good Samaritan.

The larger cities of Galilee appear to have been mainly pagan, although there is some dispute on this. The smaller towns and villages were mainly Jewish. Prior to 70 CE, the Jews of Galilee were mostly descended from pagans who were forcibly converted to Judaism during the Maccabean period, some two hundred years earlier. Around the beginning of the century, several Galilean Jews seem to have instigated rebellion and dissent against Roman rule. After 70 CE, there was a major influx of Jews from Jerusalem.

The Decapolis population was almost exclusively pagan.

Answer 2

Jesus lived in Nazareth, at the time of the Roman period.